Five Things to Penetrate to the Unshakable

(First Discourse)

Monks, possessing five things, a Monk pursuing Mindfulness of Breathing (Breathing Mindfulness Meditation) in no long time penetrates to the unshakable.

What five?

(1) Here, a Monk has few undertakings, few tasks, is easy to support, and is easily contented with the necessities of life.

(2) He eats little and is intent on moderation regarding food.

(3) He is rarely drowsy and is intent on alertness.

(4) He has learned much, remembers what he has learned, and cultivates what he has learned. Those Teachings that are good in the beginning, good in the middle, and good in the end, with the right meaning and phrasing, which proclaim the perfectly complete and pure spiritual life — such Teachings as these he has learned much of, retained in mind, recited verbally, mentally investigated, and penetrated well by view.

(5) He reviews the extent to which his mind is liberated.

Possessing these five things, a Monk pursuing Mindfulness of Breathing (Breathing Mindfulness Meditation) in no long time penetrates to the unshakable.

(Second Discourse)

Monks, possessing five things, a Monk developing Mindfulness of Breathing (Breathing Mindfulness Meditation) in no long time penetrates to the unshakable.

What five?

(1) Here, a Monk has few undertakings, few tasks, is easy to support, and is easily contented with the necessities of life.

(2) He eats little and is intent on moderation regarding food.

(3) He is rarely drowsy and is intent on alertness.

(4) He gets to hear at will, without trouble or difficulty, talk concerned with the holy life that is conducive to opening up the heart, that is, talk on elimination of desires, on contentment, on solitude, on not getting bound up (with others), on arousing energy, on virtuous behavior, on concentration, on wisdom, on liberation, on the wisdom and vision of liberation.

(5) He reviews the extent to which his mind is liberated.

Possessing these five things, a Monk developing Mindfulness of Breathing (Breathing Mindfulness Meditation) in no long time penetrates to the unshakable.

(Third Discourse)

Monks, possessing five things, a Monk cultivating Mindfulness of Breathing (Breathing Mindfulness Meditation) in no long time penetrates to the unshakable.

What five?

(1) Here, a Monk has few undertakings, few tasks, is easy to support, and is easily contented with the necessities of life.

(2) He eats little and is intent on moderation regarding food.

(3) He is rarely drowsy and is intent on alertness.

(4) He is a forest dweller who resorts to remote lodgings.

(5) He reviews the extent to which his mind is liberated.

Possessing these five things, a Monk cultivating Mindfulness of Breathing (Breathing Mindfulness Meditation) in no long time penetrates to the unshakable.

(Reference: AN 5.96)

In these Teachings from Gotama Buddha, he shares how when a Practitioner is developing their Breathing Mindfulness Meditation practice and possesses five things, they are close to Enlightenment.

The Buddha explains Enlightenment as an unshakable mind so when he shares, “in no long time penetrates to the unshakable” he is explaining that one is close to Enlightenment.

Numbers 1-3 and 5 are exactly the same in each of the three (3) discourses with The Buddha choosing to change number 4 in each discourse. These will all be explained in the below.

(1) The Buddha is guiding Practitioners to not over burden themselves with daily tasks running from place to place but instead, find contentment with just the necessities of life. Having massive “to-do lists” and allow the mind to only feel productive if one accomplishes their entire list will only lead to discontentedness as the mind is craving/desiring/attached to certain expectations and outcomes. Instead, simplifying one’s life with just a “few tasks” in a day and doing each one well will produce wholesome outcomes.

A Practitioner will need to train the mind and teach it, how to relax. All too often we place the expectation on ourselves that we should be constantly on “the go” and constantly be productive at completing some tasks. One needs to see resting and relaxing as a task that needs to be integrated in one’s day and train the mind to be comfortable with relaxing. Rest and relaxation is a productive activity that is required as one moves forward in life. Just like food and water itself, one needs to view rest and relaxation as a necessity of life. To find and practice “the middle way”, one will need to be active applying energy and effort to daily tasks but also will need to create time for rest and relaxation as part of a balanced lifestyle.

(2) A Practitioner will need to train the body and mind to be content with moderation in eating. Food is not for amusement or entertain but instead, to nourish the body. With the fetter of “sensual desire” the unEnlightened mind will oftentimes become discontent if certain food items are not available when one “wants” to eat them due to craving/desire/attachment to that food item. Practicing moderation of eating also ensures one is not indulging in emotional eating based on craving/desire/attachment and arisen discontentedness. Instead, train the body and mind to be content with moderation in eating can ensure that one eats for nourishment and sustaining of the physical body rather than, pleasing the tongue and mind.

(3) As the mind is trained to perform more optimally by coming to “the middle”, a Practitioner will find that they do not need to indulge in excessive sleep. Instead, the mind will function on a moderate amount of sleep and during waking hours, the mind will be attentive, alert, and aware without drowsiness. This is a benefit and result of deep training of the mind.

An unEnlightened mind is burdened by so many worries, stress, and anxieties, among other discontent feelings. This puts a strain on the body and the mind. But, as the mind is trained moving closer to Enlightenment, one will find that alertness of the mind is experienced, and one will have energy to accomplish all the needed objectives to progress in life.

If you are observing sluggishness of mind, see The Seven Factors of Enlightenment in Chapter 3 of the book “Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenment” - (Volume 1). The Seven Factors of Enlightenment provide guidance of how to move the mind from either a sluggish or excited condition to “the middle” by practicing The Seven Factors of Enlightenment.

(4) During the lifetime of The Buddha, he taught orally and Practitioners needed to memorize his Teachings. The Students would recite The Teachings regularly as a method of memorization. The Teachings did not get written down until after The Buddha’s death so memorizing The Teachings and reciting them was highly important and ensured the continued transmission of these Teachings for many generations.

Today, we have technology to capture Teachings in written, video, and audio format eliminating the need to memorize The Teachings or reciting them. However, it is important that one learns, retains, investigates, and penetrates The Teachings discovering the truth to acquire wisdom.

Through learning with all the available resources and with guidance from a Teacher, a Practitioner can apply effort to deeply understand and retain The Teachings understanding. In this way, they will then be able to apply The Teachings in daily life.

Without retaining the understanding of The Teachings, a Practitioner would have no ability to apply The Teachings in daily life.

As one learns, reflects, and practices The Teachings to include Breathing Mindfulness Meditation, the mind becomes more focused, concentrated, and clear. In this way, the mind is then able to retain The Teachings more easily to be applied in daily life.

It is wise to meditate prior to reading or classes where you plan to learn The Teachings. In this way, you can clear out any clutter in the mind prior to learning and have the best possible capability to retain The Teachings to be applied in daily life.

(5) A Practitioner will need to be observant and watchful over their own mind to be aware when discontentedness arises so that you can identify all the cravings/desires/attachments that caused the discontentedness and eliminate them. Objective observation of the mind helps a Practitioner to uncover areas for improvement and what to focus on in further development of the mind. While you will need a Teacher on The Path to Enlightenment, this is an independent journey where you are the one responsible for actively working in the direction of Enlightenment knowing what areas to focus on to advance your practice. Initially, the Teacher should point you in the direction of how to get started and moving along The Path to Enlightenment. But fairly soon, a Practitioner will need to have their own inner determination and observation of the mind to identify areas for improvement and pursue the needed wisdom to create progress on The Path.

If there is discontentedness in the mind, this is a perfect opportunity to investigate the mind and determine what cravings/desires/attachments caused the discontentedness so that they can be uprooted and eliminated so that the mind will not experience any further discontentedness related to those cravings/desires/attachments.

This is explained in Chapter 13 titled “Identifying Cravings: Cultivating Non-Craving and Analysis of The Mind” in the book “Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenment” (Volume 1).

As one notices the mind is not liberated and still experiencing discontentedness, rather than becoming discontent that the mind is discontent, use the opportunity to learn and grow your practice evolving and strengthening it for greater improvement.

(Second Discourse)

(4) The Buddha is guiding a Practitioner to ensure they are taking time, effort, energy, and resources to learn these Teachings through formal discourses with Teachers and through discussion among other members of The Community of Practitioners. Through gradually actively learning over the course of months and years, a Practitioner will come to understand these Teachings more deeply and be able to apply them into their life. Additionally, through having regular discussions with other members of The Community, a Practitioner will be able to more firmly root these Teachings into the mind. Open discussions about these Teachings where one can put these Teachings into spoken words helps the mind to retain The Teachings and thus, apply them in daily life.

(Third Discourse)

(4) A Practitioner during Gotama Buddha’s lifetime would have retreated to the forest and remote lodgings. However, in today’s lifestyle, this is not always possible. The underlying Teaching that is being shared is that one need to learn how to spend time alone and be comfortable with being alone.

If a Practitioner is always with other people, the mind is oftentimes overactive and occupied with the daily troubles and difficulties of others rather than, working through the challenges that you need to address in your own life and mind.

It is wise to spend time alone regularly. One needs to be able to fall in love with themselves without any sort of arrogance, pride, or conceit of any type. Instead, training the mind to be comfortable in this body not wanting or needing anything but instead, feel peace in solitude. If one is incapable of finding peace alone with your own thoughts, then you will never find peace with others.

I suggest going on walks, shopping trips, to the movies, restaurants, retreats, and even vacations alone. Find time to be alone on a regular basis to be able to look within finding peacefulness and contentment without interaction with others.

Time with others is impermanent and you will not be able to permanently be surrounded with people. If the mind craves/desires constant interaction with others, then when you are alone, the mind will be bored or lonely. This discontentedness is very unsatisfying to the mind and makes life unenjoyable. So rather than allowing the mind to constantly crave/desire interaction and hold on to others, train it to be comfortable and content alone in solitude, working this into training of the mind. Finding regular time to be alone will strengthen one’s mind creating confidence that being alone is enjoyable and that just like being with other people is impermanent, being alone is impermanent as well.

When the mind is comfortable being alone, then whether you are with people or away from others, the mind can reside peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy.

Through developing one’s life practice as described in this Teaching, along with practicing Breathing Mindfulness Meditation and all the other Teachings of The Buddha, one is close to Enlightenment.